And Then There Was Them
by Silverkiss-Iceheart
Summary: Devoneth of Fort Hold is an outcast. Everyone knows only two things about him, he is gay and he knows too much about the colonists. Things not even the Harpers know, things they assume he made up. But when he is searched, along with his friend Xadra, the whole of Pern is forced to question their beliefs, as a Green Rider, with a queen by his side, shows Pern the truth of its roots.
1. Chapter 1

First off. Don't kill me!  
I know I should be working on my other stories, but the muse for this one hit me like a wrecking ball. And so, my first pernese story.  
Any flamers can cool their jets and remember that I am a pyromaniac and would not hesitate to show them a few tricks about reversing the path of fire. And any homophobes should not be reading Anne McCaffrey in the first place and though my personal opinion is much harsher, should just push that little back button at the top of the screen to the left side.

* * *

Devoneth tapped his nails incessantly against the table, his strange violet eyes focused blankly at the wall. He'd tried to drop the habit he'd picked up from the original colonists, but habits weren't something he found easy to drop. Devoneth was the only one who knew such details about the colonists, but he saw them in his dreams enough to memorize everything. The boy scoffed as he stood, pacing as he pushed the memories from centuries ago out of his mind. His sister had tried to tell him to use it, to talk to the Harpers about it.

_Yeah, people already consider me a freak, thank you very much._

The fact that he dreamed about the history of Pern from centuries ago would be a epic climax to his outcast reputation. And seeing as the only one to ever actually speak to him was Xadra, you'd think that he'd already reached that climax. As if.

Devoneth turned on his heel, glowering at the mirror as if accusing it of being at fault.

"You'd think that after seven years, you'd have stopped blaming the inanimate objects."

"As if your any better."

"I stopped six years ago." Devoneth glared at the woman over his shoulder. Xadra was a impressive figure, with her tall stature and untamable mass of black curls.

The fact that she could glare a hole in a stone wall also had something to do with it. And certainly made him glad that she was on his side.

"Did you hear that the clutch is hardening? They say that Nirmanth did well." Xadra lounged against the doorway, her naturally arrogant posture earning her a glare from the Drudge. But no one ever looked at her like that when she was looking back.

"No. They'll likely be searching. Was there another queen?"  
"You really need to stay in touch with the gossip. And would it have been referred to as a good clutch if there wasn't?"  
"Not within hearing range of Nirmanth"  
Xadra's husky laugh told Devoneth that his wit was well placed. No one dared offend the queen.  
"Whatever Devon, lets just go take care of those brutes we have the audacity to call Runner-beasts," Xadra strode off, and Devoneth nearly jogging to keep pace.

Line Break

"Oi Devoneth! Get over here and tell your beast to get off my foot!"  
Devoneth grinned as he caught up with Xadra, the image he saw of his black stallion with his hoove planted on her foot making him bite his lip to keep from laughing. As tough as Xadra was, the amount of times she was outmatched by his runnerbeast was really outstanding.  
As if the woman could read his mind, Xadra glared at him, chosing to point firmly at the stallion rather than scold him.  
"Charon, behave."  
The black runnerbeast looked almost chagrined as he responded to Devoneth's hand on his bridle, backing off of Xadra's foot even as he bared his teeth at her.  
Charon had been a rescue. No one had any need for a downed racer, but he'd been pricey despite the chances of him never being able to run again with the broken leg he'd received on the track. But Charon had come out of it with his old spirit, a new name and a safer home. He'd never set foot on a track again.  
"Much better. Deadglow!"  
The boy held back a snort of laughter as Xadra shook her fist at the runnerbeast. Especially as Charon turned his nose up at her.  
It was truly amazing how two beings so alike could hate each other so much. But then again, there was only room for one attitude like theirs' in a hold.  
Again, Xadra glared at him like she knew what he was thinking, but Charon's bared teeth and shifting hooves kept her from cuffing him as she usually did.  
If nothing else, the two respected each other.

With her unnerving mahogany eyes glittering with humor, Xadra turned away, walking over to Jierda, her steel gray stallion.  
There were times he wondered about his sanity in befriending her. The rest of Fort Hold certainly did.  
"Do you think they'll search Fort?"  
"And come back with whom? Fratha or Erana?"  
Devoneth's raised eyebrow clearly questioned her sanity as he named the two siblings, cynicism written on every line of his face.  
Xadra shook her head, running a brush over Jierda. As usual, her silence was unnerving. Xadra was the kind of girl that only stopped talking when she was either calling you a dim-wit or enjoying your ignorance.  
Usually the first.

Devoneth settled for ignoring her, instead focusing on rubbing the dirt from Charon's black coat, ignoring the occasional stamp of hooves and rare snapping of teeth. Charon was aggressive by nature, but more often than not, it was directed at Xadra.  
It was the beat of wings that broke her silence.

"Told you, Devoneth."

* * *

R&R.


	2. Chapter 2

And the next chapter! Any questions feel free to ask in your _review_.  
Other than that, no theres nothing.  
**Blade** The disclaimer darling, your forgetting the disclaimer.  
**Me **What disclaimer? Is there supposed to be a disclaimer?  
**Viva **Now!  
**Me **Very well. I have not the right to claim ownership of the Dragon Riders Of Pern and my own sanity. Obviously since I'm being bullied into this thing by voices in my head.

* * *

Devoneth stared up at the blue and brown dragon winging their way down to Fort Hold. He was probably the only boy here that didn't dream of dragons, but he certainly couldn't argue. They were magnificent.  
"Lets go, before we get chased off."  
Devoneth nodded, pivoting on heel too stride back into the Hold.  
His entire life he'd always been a dreamer, his mother's death had knocked that part of him out. It had taken Xadra to get him back to almost normal, but now he found himself dreaming of the Weyr.  
Like everyone, Devoneth had heard everything about dragons. Gold, bronze, brown, green and blue. He'd always imagined Xadra on one, she just belonged like that. On the back of a creature as powerful as a dragon.  
Devoneth ignored her knowing smile, stepping into his room rather than hanging around to talk to her and watch as Fratha and Erana vied for the attention on the dragon stared out the window, his violet eyes shrew as he watched the blue circle around to find a place to land.  
He'd heard of dragons being able to speak to people when they desired. And that of course, meant that they could hear.  
_'There is a cove far to your right, it should fit both you and your companion._'  
Devoneth almost smiled as the flight pattern stuttered for a moment before the blue glided down towards the cove.  
**_Thank you,_** **Dreamer  
**Devoneth startled, staring as the blue dragon landed. Dreamer. He'd been called that before, but never in the same tone the dragon had.  
_**I have a name little one.** **Czanth.**  
_He didn't answer for a moment, voices interrupting him a moment before he began, Czanth giving a almost amused rumble before falling silent.  
"Czanth says that there is someone of power here"  
"We can't wait much longer J'ax. We need to find whomever it is."  
Devoneth stayed quiet as Xadra stepped, uninvited into the room, her mahogany eyes delighted.  
"Come on Devon, they want everyone out there."

* * *

Devoneth tapped his nails against his thigh, not even bothering to scold himself for the habit. Fifteen years of only having seen a dragon three times in his life, each time flying overhead, and now he'd talked to one and was being contemplated, among others, to ride a dragon.  
"The girl, who is she?"  
"You mean Frada? She is my daughter, would make a very good queen rider."  
Devoneth winced, silently hoping that Frada would be dismissed. She was more tyrant than leader.  
"No, the girl with the black hair."  
"Xadra."  
Devoneth smiled, the furious look on Frada's face getting a amused look from Xadra. Clearly he was right in thinking that she would ride.  
"You think she's it J'ax?"  
"Czanth says that she will likely Impress. But she's not the one."  
"Finding two than?"  
The riders seemed almost to be ignoring Jada, Frada and Erana's mother. He was really starting to like them.  
Devoneth let himself focus on the wall, his violet eyes getting the glazed look that always came to him.  
Its what had always gotten him called Dreamer.

"He's the power? But are you sure?"  
"Even my brown confirms it."  
Devoneth snapped to attention, glancing at Xadra to confirm how long he'd been spaced out. But she wasn't there.  
"Devoneth come here."  
_Shards, they are not_ _serious.  
_Devoneth ignored his incredulous side, opting for a cool expression. The Brown riders searching eyes zeroed in on his own violet with a strange expression.  
Not like a strange expression was unusual for him. Violet eyes weren't the most common.  
"So Devoneth, what do you say? Do you want to Impress a dragon?"  
His smile pretty much answered the question. There was no way he was saying no after speaking to that blue. And besides, Xadra would be there.

* * *

Charon's protests had woken what little of the Hold that was capable of sleeping through a Search. He was going to miss that fiery beast.

"Are you ready?"  
Devoneth nodded at the J'ax, the blue rider. Xadra offered him her trademark cocky grin as she mounted to Brown. Her eyes were gleaming.  
Almost made him pity the dragon.  
Czanth rumbled in greeting as he stepped onto his foreleg, swinging across his back behind J'ax.  
**_Hello again, Dreamer._**  
_'And you as well Czanth.'  
_Devoneth smiled as the small exchange was ended when Czanth took a flying leap from the ledge.  
"The jump between will last as long as it takes to cough three times. The cold and blackness is what makes it frightening. You won't be able to feel Czanth."  
Devoneth shivered just at the description. It sounded to much like one of his nightmares. Being trapped in nothingness.  
But then they were between. To Fort Weyr.

* * *

**R&R&**Save me from the voices in my head!


	3. Chapter 3

And here it is. And here I am, begging on me knees for all you faithful readers' forgiveness.  
I swear I tried to update before this!  
Anyways, here it is and I am also on my knees to beg you for reviews.  
Well enough with my rambling, I'm gonna take off and let you read before any of my voices wake up. Hawk just managed to get Shadow to stop contemplating the razor blade and get some sleep, so no way am I risking waking him up.

* * *

"Welcome to Fort Weyr."  
Devoneth and Xadra exchanged smiles as she swung from the dragon.  
She looked as cool as she usually did, more fire than ice.  
"Come on, Czanth says that the hatching has started!"

Devoneth gasped as the rider grabbed his arm, half dragging him away, oblivious to the malicious gaze he got from Xadra in return for the rough treatment.  
Devoneth pitied him, making Xadra mad is not something to put on your Bucket List.  
The deep hum that reverberated through the ground made him shiver as he looked out at the sands he was being led to.  
He could see Xadra being led, looking incensed in a plain white dress that seemed to have been shoved on her at a run.  
So this was it. The hatching grounds.

Devoneth gave Xadra a searching look as his arm was let go as he stepped out onto the sands. The heat burned even through his riding boots.  
_**Look**_** at me Dreamer.**  
Devoneth jerked, turning his gaze quickly to the lowly growling queen. She was crouched just behind her eggs, her head low enough for him to see her rapidly spiraling eyes.  
Then the eggs drew his attention, twenty-five, monstrous, mottled eggs.  
Xadra gave him a quick look at his gasp, her mahogany eyes, hard and wary even where she was now, part of the half-circle around the raised portion of the floor that held the gold egg.

Devoneth's attention was once again diverted as the humming increased in intensity, the throb of it reaching his bones.  
A quiet tapping emerged from an egg rocking near the edge of the clutch.  
Devoneth was aware that his lips were parted, captivated by the sight. And finally, in one loud burst, the egg shattered. The ugly, disproportional blue body that staggered from the remnants of the shell and wobbled in place before falling.  
It was easy to ignore the displeased murmurs from the crowd - a blue being the first to hatch was not a good omen - as he watched a boy gasp and stagger forward, the tears of joy visible on his face.

Impression.

Devoneth turned his attention back to Xadra, catching her small smile and glistening eyes before she aimed a glare at him, gesturing with her head to turn his attention back to the clutch.  
A brown broke free of its shell next, and Devoneth watched as it cried in desperate confusion, stumbling over the broken shards of its egg before reaching out with a claw to grab at one of the boys that stepped forward.  
Devoneth found himself biting his lip as he watched the fledgling discard the boy to the attention of its fellow hatchling.  
Devoneth didn't wait to see if Impression would be made as he turned his attention back towards the clutch, watching a bronze break free to stagger towards the crowd, as if his choice was already made.

The intense humming made everyone pause for a moment. As the dragons' hum reached a climax, Devoneth's attention was drawn back to Xadra. The queen egg shattered and half the girls staggered back. With the exception of three, including Xadra.  
The golden fledgling lurched, crying piteously as it staggered over its egg shells.  
Xadra stepped aside as it lurched forward, reaching out to grab one of the girls.  
Devoneth had to admire his friend as she regarded the beast coolly when it shook the girl roughly before discarding her.  
Even more so as she kneeled down beside it.

Devoneth ignored the tears of joy in his eyes as he watched his best friend get lost in the queen's eyes.  
He'd always known that she'd ride a dragon. Always.  
Devoneth's attention was diverted by piteous crooning and his head snapped back in the direction of the clutch . The green that stumbled out of its egg shells cried, its eyes reeling with hunger as it looked around. The rest of the ground where the eggs had lain was covered in shells.  
Devoneth focused on the fledgling as it staggered forward, its disproportionally large head making it stumble.  
The queen gave a encouraging croon behind it, her eyes calm now that almost all her clutch was Impressed.

Devoneth could feel Xadra's gaze on him as he fell to his knees.  
The fledgling staggered towards him, crying in distress until it stumbled into his lap and met his eyes.  
And just like that Devoneth found himself lost in rainbow eyes.  
He didn't understand how he'd ever lived without her. Lidith.

* * *

R&R&Pet Shadow! He's like a cat, he'll stretch and purr for you!


	4. Chapter 4

I hope this makes up for the wait I gave you guys, and of course, the shout-outs I missed in the last reply.

**Starsinger: **-sigh- I guess I'll just have to learn to live with them than **Shadow: **like I have to live with you? **Me: **oh shut up will you.  
Anyways, thank you, sometimes I really need to hear that (has no faith in humanity) And tell me about it! I'm just so nit-picky that I can't find one. If there is anyone you would suggest please tell me.

**Ginnystar: **Yeah, that was kind of deliberate. Just one of my subtle tricks -winks-

**Wendums: **Thank you Wendums, and don't worry there will be more xD Just have patience in my bi-polar muse.

**Brownriderco: **Thank you Brownrider, I don't see exactly how the summary led you to believe that he would impress a gold, seeing as it stated a **green **rider . But I guess it could be confusing. Anyways, that is what I've always kind of believed about dragons, its nice to hear someone who shares the idea.  
As you can see, D'von impresses a green, Lidith, and the colonist dreams will be explains in time.  
Your welcome, and again thank you. Feedback is my life!

* * *

**I'm hungry, can't we wait until after I've eaten to bath?**

D'von gave the Green a tolerantly amused look while he scrubbed the sweetsand into her hide.  
"She begging again? My Osirith is awful about that."  
D'von looked up at Xadra, the tender look in her eyes taking all the bite out of it. It was strange to see his sharp-tongued friend like that.  
D'von looked back at Lidith, thinking now, that he could understand it perfectly even if it was out of place on her.  
**If I must wait, will you at least hurry up? Osirith is telling Xadra to hurry as well.**

D'von gave Lidith a amused look as she butted his thigh impatiently, crooning her demand.  
_Very well love, I'll_hurry.

Xadra gave him a look that shared his exasperation at the fledglings impatience.  
"All they do is eat and sleep-"  
Xadra grinned wryly before finishing for him.  
"-And thats what makes a dragon grow."  
Lidith intercepted, informing him that her right flank itched abominably, and Xadra laughed as Osirith gave her own complaint.  
The two riders exchanged grins before dutifully attacking the mentioned areas.

* * *

Lidith crooned in pleasure as she sank into the sand, her engorged belly disproportionate against the rest of her.  
Osirith rested her head against Lidith's shoulder while they curled up together.  
D'von settled into the sands by Xadra, watching the sand trickle back to the ground from her hand.  
"No weyrlings come here, do they?"  
D'von nodded to her soft, rhetorical question while Xadra leaned back into the sand, her untamable mass of curls fanning out.  
"Its been so long. Osirith matches the size of the largest bronze, and Lidith has grown just as well."  
D'von focused his violet eyes on her, tracing a finger through the sand as she continued.

"Thread is still a year or two away, and goodness knows the weyr is getting restless. D'jar and Tinitha will have to announce something to keep the peace."  
D'von turned his eyes back to the ocean, once again struck by the wisdom Xadra hid behind a sharp tongue and hard eyes.

D'von startled as Xadra abruptly rose, her mood-swings kicking into gear as she whirled away, taking as she did so.  
"Come on, Lidith and Osirith are rested enough to walk back, and shards do I not want to have to deal with G'laith _again_, after last sevenday. Even I get tired of giving pig-headed bronze riders the tongue lashing they so desperately need."

D'von grinned as he stood, rousing Lidith and ignoring her croon of protest as Osirith - her make-shifter pillow - lifted herself from the sands. _Well love, if it makes you feel better, shes a hurricane to me as well._

* * *

"The cove again D'von?"  
D'von looked up from Lidith, offering a smile to J'ax as the blue rider strode into the room.  
Czanth crooned a greeting to Lidith from the ledge.  
"Yeah. Xadra dragged us back."  
J'ax grinned at the mention of her. The newest queen rider and first to stake a claim of best friend on a green rider.

"The hurricane?"  
D'von laughed at the echo of his remark to Lidith. Hurricane indeed.  
"That girl has been a living nightmare for poor Tinitha. D'jar is just about fed up with her.  
Complaining that she'll drive us all straight out of the weyr."  
J'ax and D'von shared a grin at the thought. And the rather likely possibility.

"Come on, I'm to show you to your new weyr. Lidith is big enough now to need it."  
D'von nodded, matching the blue rider's stride easily. Xadra had given him more than enough practice.  
"Czanth says that she will grow well. Although from prior experiences with her temper, that might have something to do with his fear of saying otherwise within her hearing."  
D'von grinned at the remark, though Lidith grumbled a protest at the comment to her temper.  
She reminded him of Xadra whenever she got angry, and that was more than enough of a explanation.

**I'm not that bad... am I?**  
D'von just grinned as they stepped into his new weyr.

* * *

**R&R&**seriously someone get Shadow some antidepressants, I don't like the way he is eying that razor.


	5. Chapter 5

And here it is, sorry for the long delay. Bad combo of writers block, exhaustion and stress has kind of ruined any creative activity I've felt for a while.

Hope you like this chapter, and any issues can be blamed on the splitting headache I have and the clock that says '5:23 AM'_  
_

* * *

_The slight woman tapped her nails against her thigh as she watched the man wandering the room, muttering under his breathe. The air was stale in the recently Thread-proofed house, the shuttered windows blocking the view of the dragons searing Pern's ever-returning foe mid-fall. Small bits and pieces of technology lay scattered around the room in casual disregard, adding character to otherwise bland room. _

_It was then that the man started screaming. The flawed roof design that let Thread slip through cracks and drop down on unsuspecting victims, _

_the fact that his death would serve a purpose to perfecting the design wasn't on their minds. _

_The woman's desperate cries as she tried to save the man she'd only recently started to call her husband would break the heart of even the cruelest person._

_"No, please no! Not him, not him-!" And then it had her to._

* * *

D'von's half choked out cry was muffled by the pillows. Another nightmare. Another dream of the colonist's many sufferings.

_**Over. Its over D'von. Long over.**_

The rider nodded, trembling faintly even as he regained his composure.

Another six weeks, Lidith had reached her max size, slender and lithe, one of the smallest, but definitely one of the fastest dragons in the Weyr.

There wasn't a day that went by that she wasn't silently challenged to a test, that his heart didn't sing with pride as she lost every dragon that ever tried to beat her in a race.

But he still shuddered at the thought of when she would mate.

But it was coming up fast.

Lidith crooned softly from her Weyr, not understanding but still trying to comfort him.

"D'von, come on. Osirith is going to take Everth's head off if she doesn't get out."  
D'von smiled tightly at her timing. Sometimes he wondered if she could read his mind. Other times he just shuddered at the thought.

There are some people you just don't want in your head.

The green rider glanced over at his sinious dragon, as if he needed confirmation, and her rainbow eyes glittered a playful challenge.

_**What? I'm just looking forward to the day when one of them is actually going to be able to **_**catch **_**me.**_

D'von turned back to Xadra, uncertain about the double-meaning in her words, but grinned her acceptance to the unspoken challenge all the same.

Lidith could never resist a chance to show off, let alone against the youngest queen in the Weyr.

"I guess we're off then."

Xadra laughed huskily at the answer before slipping back to the ledge, one foot poised on Osirith's shoulder while she waited for him.

Lidith lowered herself as D'von did the straps to her riding harness, the smooth leather fitting perfectly against her soft hide.

_**Lets go. Its time that queen had to stretch her wings a little. Its not like those pompous bronzes ever make her.**_

Never heard of a green that could insult a bronze...

D'von shook his head in awe as he swung his leg over the powerful shoulders, feeling the muscles tense and bunch Lidith crouched to take off.

From the first flight he'd known that he lived for it. The heavy gust of the wind, the chill in the air, the feel of Lidith's warmth and her strength beneath him.

It was like paradise.

Xadra's piercing whistle caught his attention, and his violet eyes quickly caught the sight of the weyrleader, D'jar, standing on the queen's ledge.

_**I apologize Dreamer. But the young queen is needed.**_

Everth's deep voice got no measurable reaction from Lidith except a sharp beat of her wings, but D'von inclined his head in acknowledgement as Xadra grumbled before landing.

Queen business, but at least it was D'jar that had gotten her, Osirith probably would have tried to take a few inches of tail off the bronze if it had been J'arth.

The one bronze rider that D'von had actually cold clocked in the nose rather than just being tempted to.

He'd never forget the proud grin Xadra had given him when the bronze rider had turned up with his nose bandaged.

And a obviously punctured ego.

"Day dreaming again D'von?"

The green rider turned sharply, Lidith giving her wings a startled beat.

G'liath, figures that the only bronze rider that Lidith hadn't offered to bite would show up the moment Xadra wasn't around to offer in the dragon's place.

"You tell me. Waiting to get your dragon's ego flayed in another race?"

The crooked grin and mock wince only made him want Xadra around to knock him into his place even more.

The last thing he needed was a bronze rider he could almost endure.

From what he'd seen, the only thing that came from that was more people talking.

Especially when its a rider like G'liath.

"No thanks, unlike the rest of these deadglows, I actually have the sense to know when I'm facing the fastest green in the weyr."

"Flattery won't get you in my good graces either."

"What would then?"

D'von turned a raised eyebrow at the boyish, lopsided grin and playful eyes before he replied.

"Jumping off a cliff without your dragon would be a good start."

Lidith took a initiative to add a climax to his innocent suggestion and folded her wings, letting them drop out of sight. Leaving G'liath as yet another one of the many riders to fail at getting on his good side.


End file.
